Internet Resources

Vision, Strength and Artistic Expression

http://vsafl.org/

This is a state affiliate of VSA arts, an international nonprofit organization that creates educational opportunities through the arts for people with disabilities.

Florida Diagnostic & Learning Resources System

http://fdlrs.com/

FDLRS includes twenty Associate Centers that serve from one to nine school districts. These Centers collaborate with districts, agencies, communities and other personnel and educational entities, providing education and support for teachers, parents, therapists, school administrators, and students with exceptionalities throughout the state of Florida.

TATS

http://tats.ucf.edu/

Teaching and Training System is a statewide project which supports programs serving prekindergarten children with disabilities.

PEPSA

http://doepartnership.usf.edu/

Partnerships for Effective Programs for Students with Autism (PEPSA) Provides training to teachers in public and private schools who wish to implement effective and high quality programs for students with autism spectrum disorders.

Learning Ally

http://www.learningally.org/

Changing the name of a long-established national institution such as RFB&D is not something we entered into lightly. Over the past year, we conducted research and focus groups with hundreds of students, parents, educators, volunteers and funders – to define the future direction of the organization.

Project 10: Transition Education Network

http://www.project10.info/

Project 10: Transition Education Network is Florida’s statewide discretionary project supporting the secondary transition of youth with disabilities. Project 10’s primary charge is to assist school districts in providing appropriate and timely transition services and programs to assist youth with disabilities in their transition to adulthood. Project 10 also serves as a collaborative resource for other state agencies, discretionary projects, non-profit organizations, and families.

ACCESS Project

http://www.accesstofls.weebly.com//

ACCESS – The Access Project provides professional development on evidence-based strategies, tools, and resources to ensure that students with a significant cognitive disability are actively engaged in the learning of academic content aligned to the  Florida Standards.

Disability Rights Florida

http://www.disabilityrightsflorida.org/

Disability Rights Florida is the designated protection and advocacy system for individuals with disabilities in the State of Florida. Disability Rights Florida has authority and responsibility under eight federal grants. Established in 1987, Disability Rights Florida is a statewide, not-for-profit corporation.

Exceptional Parent Magazine

http://eparent.com/

This is an online resource. It provides information, support, ideas, encouragement and outreach for parents and families of children with disabilities, and the professionals who work with them.

PEAK Parent Center

http://www.peakparent.org/

PEAK Parent Center is Colorado’s federally designated Parent Training and Information Center (PTI). PEAK assists families and others through services like its telephone hotline, workshops, conferences, website, and publications. PEAK also has been selected to provide technical assistance and support to the Parent Training and Information Centers in 10 other states including: Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

Family Network on Disabilities of Florida

http://fndfl.org/

This is a statewide network of families and individuals of all ages who may be at-risk, have disabilities, or have special needs and their families, professionals, and concerned citizens.

Central Florida Parent Center

http://www.cflparents.org/

Central Florida Parent Center provides parents of children with disabilities information, training, assistance and support.

Parent to Parent of Miami

http://www.ptopmiami.org/

Parent to Parent of Miami This organization offers individual parent-to-parent support, workshops in English, Spanish, and Haitian-Creole, information and referral to agencies, and advocacy.

Florida’s Problem Solving and Response to Intervention Project

http://www.floridarti.usf.edu/index.html

This website will offer variety of tools and resources to assist educators in the implementation of Florida’s RTI Plan. Look for it in the fall of 2008.

Florida’s Positive Behavior Support Project

http://flpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/

Florida Positive Behavioral Support Project This statewide project enhances the skills of teachers, related services personnel, administrators, family members, and agency personnel in addressing severe behavioral challenges of students with disabilities.

Center for Applied Special Technology

Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) – http://www.cast.org/

Frequently Asked Questions about UDL – http://www.cast.org/research/faq/index.html

This is a non-profit educational organization that uses technology to expand opportunities for all people, especially those with disabilities. The site map offers many links.

Universal Design of Instruction (UDI): Definition, Principles, Guidelines, and Examples

http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/PDF/instruction.pdf

DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) at the University of Washington serves to increase the successful participation of individuals with disabilities in challenging academic programs and careers. This link takes you to a document that provides a definition, principles, guidelines, and examples of Universal Design for Instruction (UDI).

The Access Center

http://k8accesscenter.org/

Response to Intervention (RtI) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) – http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/RTIandUDL.asp

Universal Design to Support Access to the General Education Curriculum –

http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/UniversalDesign.asp

The Access Center is a national technical assistance and dissemination center. This site offers print and webinar resources designed to support access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities. Included are a series of professional development modules available on CD and information briefs.

Parent’s Guide to UDL

http://www.ncld.org/images/stories/Publications/AdvocacyBriefs/ParentGuide-UDL/ParentsGuidetoUDL.pdf

Universal Design for Learning in Prekindergarten (Pre-K) Classrooms

http://www.tats.ucf.edu/docs/eUpdates/Inclusion-6.pdf

Universal Design for Learning and Assistive Technology

http://www.nectac.org/topics/atech/udl.asp

National Universal Design for Learning Task Force

http://www.udl4allstudents.com
Comprised of more than 40 organizations, the National UDL Task Force advocates support for UDL in federal, state, and district education policy.

National Center on Universal Design for Learning

http://www.udlcenter.org/
The National UDL Center supports the effective implementation of UDL by connecting stakeholders in the field and providing resources and information about various topics related to Universal Design for Learning.

The Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University

http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/
An initiative of the College of Design at North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh, NC, the Center conducts original research on usability, disseminates information on UD, and provides training and technical assistance to the public, businesses, students, educators, and government organizations. The Center’s work promotes Universal Design —the idea that all new environments and products, to the greatest extent possible, should be usable by everyone regardless of their age, ability, or circumstance.

Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology

http://www.faast.org/
FAAST’s mission is to improve the quality of life for all Floridians with disabilities through advocacy and awareness activities that increase access to and acquisition of assistive services and technology.

National Center for Learning Disabilities

http://www.ncld.org/
This is an organization that has reached out to individuals with learning disabilities, their families, educators, researchers, and others committed to increasing public awareness of and opportunities for people with learning disabilities.

National Center and State Collaborative

http://www.ncscpartners.org/
The National Center and State Collaborative (NCSC) is a project led by five centers and 24 states (13 core states and 11 Tier II states) to build an alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. The goal of the NCSC project is to ensure that students with the most significant cognitive disabilities achieve increasingly higher academic outcomes and leave high school ready for post-secondary options.

Check out the Multimedia page for excellent videos demonstrating support strategies in action.

National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities

http://nichcy.org/ 
This is the national information center that provides information on disabilities and disability-related issues. Anyone can use their services – families, educators, administrators, journalists, students. Their special focus is children and youth (birth to age 22). They are bilingual and the site offers many free publications that can be downloaded.

The Access Center

http://k8accesscenter.org/
The Access Center is a national technical assistance and dissemination center. This site offers print and webinar resources designed to support access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities. Included are a series of professional development modules available on CD and information briefs.

The IRIS Center

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/

The IDEA ’04 and Research for Inclusive Settings Center develops training enhancement materials to be used by faculty and professional development providers for the preparation of current and future school personnel.

Equity Alliance

http://www.equityallianceatasu.org/

Equity Alliance at ASU represents a set of funded programs that promote equity, access, participation and outcomes for all students.

SmartBrief

http://www.smartbrief.com/

SmartBrief is a media company that hand-picks the most relevant and important news from all over, summarize it, link to the original sources and deliver it — for FREE — in a one-stop-shop e-newsletters. SmartBrief newsletters are available on a variety of topics including:

Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) – http://www.smartbrief.com/cec/index.jsp?campaign=ind

ASCD SmartBrief – http://www.smartbrief.com/news/ascd

SmartBrief on EdTech – http://www.smartbrief.com/edtech/index.jsp?campaign=ind

Special Connections

http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/

Special Connections

Inclusive Schools Network

http://www.inclusiveschools.org/

ISN is a web-based resource for families, schools and communities that promotes inclusive educational practices. This is the home of the internationally-recognized annual Inclusive Schools Week event.

IES

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/

WWC is a central and trusted source of scientific evidence for effective educational practices. Topics include beginning reading, early childhood education, elementary school and middle school math, and dropout prevention.

The National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB)

http://www.nationaldb.org/

The National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB) is a national technical assistance and dissemination center for children and youth who are deaf-blind. NCDB works collaboratively with families, federal, state and local agencies to provide technical assistance, information and personnel training.

Kansas University Research and Training Center on Independent Living

http://rtcil.org/guidelines.shtml

Information and resources on person-first language and respectful ways to refer to people with disabilities in print and other communication formats.

The Council for Exceptional Children

http://cec.sped.org/

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted.

The National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB)

http://www.nationaldb.org/

The National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB) is a national technical assistance and dissemination center for children and youth who are deaf-blind. NCDB works collaboratively with families, federal, state and local agencies to provide technical assistance, information and personnel training.

TASH

http://tash.org/

This is an international association of people with disabilities, their family members, other advocates, and professionals fighting for a society in which inclusion of all people in all aspects of society is the norm.

Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR)

http://www.fcrr.org/

The Florida Center for Reading Research’s mission is to conduct basic research on reading, reading growth, reading assessment, and reading instruction that will benefit students in Florida and throughout the nation and to disseminate information and provide technical assistance about research-based practices related to literacy instruction and assessment for children in pre-school through 12th grade.